Dear PPPC,

I didn’t know what to write to you this week. Anytime I’ve opened my computer to write to you this week, I’ve come up short. I think it’s because whenever I open my computer, the news automatically opens, too.

Each day this week, the headlines have been filled with violence, at home and abroad. Most days, both.

And then yesterday, as a nation, we honored our promise to “Never Forget” and heard read aloud again, the names of those we lost on 9/11. We hold them and their loved ones tenderly in our hearts.

Current events have been particularly overwhelming lately. I know you share this sentiment, as many of you have shared with me your concern for our nation and for the world, more than ever, in recent months. And so, with all of the news this week, I wasn’t sure what to write to you about this week.

…

I’ll tell you what I wanted to write to you about.

I wanted to write to you about the Blessing of the Backpacks on Sunday. How we will have bag tags to give the children, a reminder that they are loved by God and by PPPC as they head to school. If your children or grandchildren can’t make it on Sunday, there will be extra bag tags for you to take and give to them.

I wanted to write to you about how we have a Sacrament of Baptism this Sunday, for Rocco Jeffrey Licato. How Rocco’s parents will stand before the congregation and promise to raise him, to the best of their ability and with God’s grace, to know the love God has for him. I wanted to reflect on why it is, in this day and age, that so many young families still come to the church asking for the Sacrament of Baptism. How is God still speaking through this ancient, holy ritual? What is it about this holy water that brings so many of us to tears every time a beloved child of God is baptized?

I wanted to write to you about the 4 Cups of Coffee challenge. Did you do it? Over the course of the last week, did you invite someone you’d like to know better to grab coffee or tea or lunch? How did it go? What new things did you learn about them? What did you vulnerably share that they might not have known about you? Was it as scary…or as easy…as you thought it would be? Who are you going to ask next week?

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Inevitably, one of you will ask me on Sunday, “Pastor Molly, why don’t you just change your computer settings so the news doesn’t open automatically?” That’s a fair question, so I’ll go ahead and answer it.

I believe, we can’t look away.

We, as Christ-followers, cannot look away from the brokenness of our world, simply because something is difficult to see. As the author of the gospel of Luke would say, “We are witnesses to these things.” We are witnesses to the world, and in turn it is our Christian witness to share the love of Christ with the world that matters most. It is our Christian witness to do the good that is ours to do. It is our Christian witness that calls us to show care to the poor, the suffering, the downtrodden, the immigrant, the hurting, the lonely, the person in need, the outcast, and those on the margins.

And, I believe,

if we take the time and energy to remember our baptism;

if we take the time to be in the Scriptures, the living Word of God;

if we take the time and make the effort to be in relationship with one another, to commit to the transformative work of actually knowing and belonging one another;

if we take the opportunity to nurture and to care for our children;

Then when we open our computers, or look at our phones, or turn on our TVs, we can be witnesses. In fact, we might be able to do more than just be witnesses. We might ask ourselves, “Where can I be of service? How might Christ use me today? In this broken, yet beloved, world.”

Parker Palmer says when our hearts are overwhelmed, they can break apart or they can break open. May our hearts be continually broken open.

See you in church.

Yours for the journey,
Pastor Molly